Justin's Theatre Reviews

  This Broadway season at the Plaza Theatre has been rather hit or miss. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder were lovely, while Motown: The Musical was dreadful. I did not see Rent , but I heard nothing but good reports about the production. Although I would not compare the two shows directly, the current national tour of Dirty Dancing happened to fall more into the lane of Motown . Above all, I have one word for the stage version of Dirty Dancing and that word is "laughable." The stage version of Dirty Dancing borders on painful, but what saves it from being painful is that it's so easy to laugh at, and I don't mean that in a positive way.    Dirty Dancing is the story of a girl (Frances Houseman) nicknamed "Baby" who goes to a summer getaway with her family. While there, Baby befriends staff members named Johhny Castle and Penny Johnson, who are dancers at the getaway. When Penny gets pregnant cannot find ...

   I have said many times on this blog that I am not into straight plays very much. I have nothing against them, they just aren't my cup of tea. However, whenever I do attend a production of a straight play, I tend to really enjoy them. I would certainly say that I thoroughly enjoyed El Paso Community College's outstanding production of Ruth and Augusts Goetz's play, The Heiress , which is a fascinating play about a woman named Catherine Sloper, who is the heir to her wealthy father's fortune. Throughout the show, we see her navigate her romantic life and try to find her footing with herself, her father, and the people around her.    The EPCC production of The Heiress was very gratifying. Their production was one of those shows where I more or less put down my critical lens and became fully invested in the story and the characters, which I would say is a very high compliment, considering that I am very critical of anything and everything. The Heiress is very well ...